The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union or JNUSU is a students' union at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. It is primarily responsible for building and preserving a healthy political culture and an atmosphere of open debates on the campus. Students are kept informed about the public meetings, discussions and other issues through pamphlets and notices. There is a long tradition in JNU of holding serious post-dinner meetings in the hostels to which the students often invite well-known public figures, writers and intellectuals. The JNUSU follows the student drafted JNUSU constitution. The Students' Union has four central panel positions. These are the posts of President, Vice President, General Secretary and Joint Secretary. An EPW study notes how in the last four decades, in the JNUSU elections, the Students’ Federation of India has won the post of president 22 times while All India Students’ Association has won it 11 times while Akhil Bhartia Vidhyarti Parishad has won it once. Notable presidents of JNUSU include CPI politician Sitaram Yechury who was president in 1977-78, Congress National Secretary Shakeel Ahmed Khan in 1992-93 and Congress Rajya Sabha MPSyed Naseer Hussain in 1999-2000. Vijoo Krishnan became the president of JNUSU in 1998. Chandrashekhar Prasad another president of the JNSU was assassinated after joining politics in Bihar in 1997.
JNUSU Elections
JNUSU elections are conducted by students through an elected Election Committee. In 2006, the Lyngdoh Committee, formed to frame guidelines for 'Students’ Union Elections' across the country noted that there is no need for altering the JNU model and that JNU's model would be "difficult to replicate elsewhere". However the JNUSU passed a resolution in 2016 to hold the elections via the JNUS constitution and not the Lyngdoh Committee model. The Students Union has four central panel positions. These are the posts of President, Vice President, General Secretary and Joint Secretary. Other posts include Councillors for each of the Schools and as well as a part time Councillor. In 2019 there were 43 Councillors. After 2015, the left parties have been fighting the elections as one unit under the umbrella of United Left.
Union Presidents
JNU is known for best Presidential debates by all candidates before elections. SFI has won the post of President the maximum number of times in the last 40 years, a total of 22 times. All India Students’ Association follows by having won the presidents post 11 times. Both SFI and AISA are the student wings of the Communist Parties.
Presidents of JNUSU
While some JNUSU presidents joined politics after JNU other presidents such as V. Lenin Kumar and Dhananjay Tripathi pursued academics. Those who joined politics include Ashutosh Kumar who joined CPI-ML, Kanhaiya Kumar joined CPI and Sandeep Singh joined Congress. Sandeep Mahapatra has been the only JNUSU president from Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad.
